I didn’t notice it much when I was a kid because I was always running too fast to notice much of anything; but as an adult, I would often catch my mother looking at me, sometimes with a big smile, sometimes not—but the look was always the same. I didn’t figure it out until I had children of my own, and as they grew, they often caught me looking at them, beaming. Now I see the same thing in their eyes as they look at their growing children.

It’s the look of love. That phrase has been trivialized by pop song, but the look still conveys any number of emotions: a sense of warmth and wonder, a sense of admiration for this terrific person right here in this moment, a sense of gratitude, a sense of holiness and deep joy. It’s not restricted to parents, but it comes to parents more easily and intimately.

“This is my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.”